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SAPPHIRE'S ACCUSATION is nearly drowned out by drunken shouts.
"What the fuck?"
"Is the party over?"
"Put the music back on!"
A cheer erupts after that last shout and everyone starts talking at once.
"Clarissa McGavity?" Julian frowns at the pink-haired possibly-witch who's balancing precariously on a plastic chair in the DJ booth.
"Who names their kid Borissa McCavity?" Bob frowns.
"Not now Bob," Sapphire says.
"I...up!" the possibly-witch Clarissa-Borissa-McCavity-McGavity... or whatever her name is... shouts, her actual words drowned out by a hundred voices.
"How do you know her, Juli?" Amber frowns. "I'd remember if she went to the academy."
"She didn't. Mini introduced us before..."
"She's Minerva Montgomery's friend?" I scowl at the possibly-witch, who now graduated to most-likely-witch.
"Maybe." Julian shrugs. “She was buying some cookies at the bakery.”
"What do you think she wants, Chase?" Amber looks up at me and threads her fingers through mine. "You don't think she's after Julian, too?"
"Is he like an aphrodisiac for witches or something?" I squint at Julian, trying to see what about him could be driving all these girls crazy.
"I think she means Minerva sent her. Don't you Ambear?" Wes asks, moving to stand protectively in front of her.
"She wouldn't dare." Julian takes Amber’s other hand. "And if she does—"
"Shut up," the most-likely witch booms from the DJ booth, her voice deafeningly loud.
Her words ricochet through the room, much like Minerva Montgomery's did with that amplification spell. I'd point it out to the others if my sensitive eardrums weren't throbbing.
Wes's shoulders tense in front of us, his hands bunching into fists in response to the pain. Amber and Julian both seem unaffected—Bob too—but the vamps cover their ears. I notice Rose doing it, too, and realize she's been turned. Something I would have noticed earlier if we weren't in a crowded club with the same damn song playing over and over again.
"Told you she's the one responsible," Sapphire says, recovering from the amplification spell before the rest of us. Proof that she's as old as time, despite Amber insistence that she's actually 53. "Also, told you, you should wear earplugs like me."
I spot the little bits of orange sticking out of her ears. Never mind.
"You don't know if she's the one responsible," Bob says.
"Actually, I am responsible," the most-likely-witch, who's graduated to definitely-witch in my mind, shouts.
"Told you." Sapphire crosses her arms in front of her chest.
"I’m sure you’re all wondering why I’ve gathered you here today," the definitely-witch says.
"Didn't they invite us here?" Bob points at the three club owners and Rose.
I glance at Sapphire expectantly, but she just shrugs. "He's not wrong."
"This is our club," Rose adds. The three club owners form a protective barrier between her and the definitely-witch, and I realize another important fact. They didn't just turn her. It's obvious that the four of them are mates.
"Congratulations," I tell them.
"What..." Amber looks at Rose, then at the guys, and her eyes widen. "Rose!" she squeals, rushing over to throw her arms around the girl. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"There wasn't any time, between—"
"Shut up!" the definitely-witch shouts, her cheeks flushing an angry red. Actually, with all the strobe lights and how far away she is, there's no way to tell the actual color of her cheeks. What I can tell from here is that she looks like a child about to throw a temper tantrum. "I gathered you here," she shouts, her voice once again making most of the supes—minus Sapphire, who's wearing ear plugs—cover their ears.
"No you didn't," Sapphire shouts with a smirk.
"What do you want, Borissa McCavity?" Amber moves to stand next to Sapphire.
"It's Cla-rissa McGavity," the witch shouts. "I mean Aquamarine. My name is Aquamarine McGavity.”
"I don't think it is, Borissa McCavity," Sapphire smirks at her.
"I don't either," Amber adds while I grab her hand and yank her back into my side.
"Why are you antagonizing her?" I hiss, even as Wes and Julian move protectively to her side.
Amber opens her mouth to answer but Sapphire beats her to it. "Because it's fun."